Chereads / Jokers & Rainbow Flowers / Chapter 7 - Learning About The Past

Chapter 7 - Learning About The Past

By the time the boys and girls were in their third year, there was practically nothing they didn't know about each other. It didn't surprise the boys any when the girls didn't freak out over having seen THE Harry Potter at the same platform they met on two years ago, but the same thing could be said from the girls when the boys made the Quidditch team. The girls received just as many letters as the boys did when it came to Mrs. Weasley looked after them and the boys never had to worry about running out of ink thanks to the girls' connections to people. They had spent the past two Christmas Holidays together and this year, when the twins had to stay at the castle over break, the girls had too in solidarity. When the Quidditch season had started, the girls were always cheering the boys on from their respective house stands. Even when this got Ruby glared at, she wouldn't stop cheering for them as she was determined to make sure they knew she was cheering them on. Naturally this led to the bullying from the other Slytherins to get worse, but that didn't stop her from doing so anyway and continuing to hang out with her cousin and the twins. Naturally this is what led the three of them to end up in detention sometimes thanks to the fights they picked over this, choosing to defend Ruby to their last breath no matter what. This led to the Slytherins picking on Emerald back though, making fun of her short temper which got them in trouble with the boys even more and gained Ruby's attention in the poor way. This got Ruby quite a bit of detention herself, doing anything to defend her cousin no matter the consequence it came with. God help the idiots that picked on one of or both of the twins, let alone Ronald when they were around. The girls made quick yet quiet work of those lot, making sure they knew that if they continued to pick on the Weasley boys that they would end them in no time. Percy knew this and tried to stop the threats multiple times over, but they never could be convinced and that conviction lived on to this very day. Today had started off like any other day, the girls enjoying their breakfasts with the boys before they all mostly parted for the day. They had one elective class, Care of Magical Creatures, together and one of their core classes together as all of their year had it together. This class was Defense Against the Dark Arts and that's where they could be found right now. Everyone had been quietly reminiscing over the end of their winter holiday, getting caught up and talking amongst themselves quietly as Professor Quirrel took his attendance for the class. This left the boys and girls to reminisce over the boys' antics last year, about how they joined the Quidditch team that past year and about the prank the same boys had pulled on that vampire the year prior with the club they were in. By the time roll call was done they were all quietly laughing with each other, waiting for Professor Quirrel to begin his speech for the lecture they were about to receive. They thought it would be just that, a normal lecture like many of his other classes had been prior to this. But that wouldn't be the case today and the girls would soon be nervous, something they often didn't feel as they heard the stuttering Professor clear his throat.

"G-Good morning everyone. I-Is everybody ready for today's lesson?" The other asked, earning a resounding 'yes' from the four of them which left the rest of the castle room in giggles. This earned a small chuckle from the stuttering Professor as he walked over to the chalk board and began to write a few words on it. On the board, once he stepped aside, was the word 'boggart' then a greater than sign facing the spell 'riddikulus'. This left many of the students confused and that could definitely be said for the four as they looked at the chalkboard.

"T-Today we'll be learning a-and practicing this spell against a Boggart! S-So we will be g-going out to the forbidden forest w-with Hagrid to help k-keep us safe!" Quirrel hummed, motioning for everyone to pick up their books and motioning to Hagrid who was now standing in their classroom doorway. Ruby and Emerald shared looks of fear for a brief moment, the two girls squeezing each other's hands before they looked up to the twins as they came around in front of them. There was one thing the girls hadn't told the boys yet and that was their deep seeded fear. It came from a trauma they hadn't told the boys about yet and it was something they had been able to avoid till now, making this the first time they would be finding out about it. Sure, they would be finding out the fears the boys had, but they weren't worried about it and had even talked about it once or twice before if they remembered correctly. It was the dark lord and the girls couldn't blame them for that, but theirs felt so much more ridiculous compared to that when they thought about it. By the time they reached the tree that the Boggart was hiding in, both girls were nervous to deal with what was about to come. They all formed a line, watching as Professor Quirrel stepped in front of them. The Boggart came rushing out of the tree, having turned itself into that of Tom Riddle. This scared most of the students, including that of Fred and George who flinched in front of the girls. The girls didn't flinch at the sight of him, watching unafraid as the teacher cast Riddikulus and the once handsome Tom Riddle turned into that of a piece of parchment which swiftly retreated back into the tree once more. The Professor then turned around and faced the class once more, ready to watch them handle the Boggart of their own accord. Each student would step up to the Boggarts tree, watching as their worst fear came springing out after it had changed its appearance to that of their worst fear. The students would then turn them into something they didn't fear, shouting Riddikulus as they pointed their wands at the creatures. Even when the twins took their turns, it was easy for them to turn the terrifying yet charming Tom Riddle into absolute clowns for everyone to laugh at as they did. Then it was Emerald's turn and, as she stepped up to the tree, the look of fear and nervousness in her eyes shined bright. The form the Boggart took though, it didn't take long for the twins to find out what the heir of the Thunderbird family feared most. A pale bloated hand came to the edge of the hole, pulling the bloated form of Emerald Thunderbird herself out of the tree. It came running toward her, grabbing Emerald by the throat who looked absolutely terrified. She was completely frozen though, unable to move as her hands trembled and she was being choked out.

"Emerald!" Ruby called from behind her, running up to her cousin and trying to pull the Boggart off as anger and fear fueled her system. This caused the Boggart to turn around, morphing in front of the class to become what Ruby feared the most, a drowned version of herself as she stared on in horror. The Boggart dropped Emerald, turning and grabbing onto Ruby's throat this time and the other girl did her best to hide her fear. It wasn't working though as she held onto her wand with trembling hands, looking into her own bloated eyes as she shook in fear. Emerald was on the ground coughing and wheezing, barely able to keep wind in her lungs as she laid there on the ground.

"R-Ruby!" She choked out, trying to grab her wand and aim it at the Boggart. She couldn't keep enough wind in her lungs to do so though, feeling fear and anger grip her body hard as she tried to. The twins rushed past the others with the teacher and Hagrid, the four of them pulling out their wands and pointing them at the Boggarts. They were going to defend their students and classmates, making sure they would be safe as they were supposed to.

"Riddikulus!" The four males shouted, bolts of magic coming from the three wands and the pink umbrella to hit the Boggart hard. It transformed it into a hilarious scene of Hagrid in full clown face paint at a tiny desk before it scurried off back into the tree. Ruby was soon dropped to the ground, coughing and sputtering as she did so as she tried to catch her breath. It was clear as day the two weren't in good condition and it was scaring the other students, especially Fred and George who weren't knelt beside the girls with worry in their eyes. Fred was helping Emerald sit up, holding her up gently as he did so with a look of complete worry in his eyes. Ruby on the other hand was being held up from doubling over by George, the other twin watching her with soft eyes as he did so.

"Are you girls alright?" Fred asked, looking back and forth between the two of them as he helped Emerald get to her knees and stand up with a look of worry in his eyes. George did much the same thing, helping Ruby stand up with a small grunt as he did so. The two of them were leaning against the boys to help them keep balance, but they both nodded their heads.

"W-We're okay. J-Just struggling to b-breath." The two murmured out, this gaining Hagrid's attention as he walked up behind the two of them. He gently grabbed both of the girls by their shoulders, picking up each one with one arm with a small grunt. This was much to the boys dismay as they watched this happen with worry in their eyes.

"Then I best be gettin these two to the infermany. You boys would be best going back to your classroom like the rest of your class." Hagrid hummed, earning a worried look from the twins as they watched the burly man move much faster than one his size should be able to do. He was bringing them into the infirmary wing, watching the two of them to make sure their breathing wasn't getting worse as he carried them in. Professor Quirrel came up behind them as well, gently gripping the boys by the shoulder and letting out a soft hum.

"C-Come on then boys, l-let's head back inside. Everything will be okay. L-Let Hagrid and Madam P-Pompfrey handle this as she should." He hummed out with a smile, looking down at the two of them with a smile on his lips. It was kind and reassuring, doing his best to calm the two down as he guided them in with the rest of the group. If it wasn't for the grip on their shoulders and them being at the front of the group they would've tried to sneak away, but alas they couldn't since they were and it made them both even more mad in the process. They had been following Hagrid till they were being guided away to the classroom, earning small looks of anger and worry from the twins. They just wanted to go to check on the girls, but they couldn't get away from Professor Qurriel long enough to do so. By the time they were let out of class, the two boys were going insane from not being able to check on the two of them. They booked it out of the classroom by the end of the class, running the entire way to the infirmary wing to make sure the girls were okay instead of going to their next class. This would earn them another detention from Professor Snape, but at this point they didn't really care as they wanted to make sure the two girls were okay more than anything else. They practically bursted through the doors to the infirmary wing, looking around frantically for the two brightly colored haired girls with looks of worry holding their features as best as they did. When they spotted them, seeing them holding a conversation with looks of worry on their face they knew something was wrong with the two of them. It made them even more worried, dashing over to two of them with fear sparking in their eyes as they did so. When the two girls spotted them they did their best to smile at the boys and hoped it would make them feel better. Maybe then they wouldn't ask what was up with their Boggarts and they could avoid having that awkward conversation with them. Fred and George on the other hand thought this was a joke, seeing them smiling at them like this making his heart ache as they looked at the two of them. Fred, being the more hot-tempered of the two, obviously voiced this as he sat down on the foot of Emerald's bed while George took the opposite seat next to Ruby's feet.

"If that was some kind of prank, that wasn't funny girls. You had us all worried about that." Fred hummed out, looking up at the Thunderbird heir with a small look of anger in his eyes as well. George nodded in agreement, looking up at the other girl with a look of worry in his eyes. They both thought that it was a joke gone too far, but they clearly didn't think the girls would go that far. The girls look absolutely horrified by the idea, Emerald getting slightly angry back as she hears the accusation from the other.

"What?! Of course it wasn't! What the bloody hell gave you two that idea!? We would never do such a thing!" Emerald barked out, looking absolutely horrified that the other would think they would do such a thing. Never in a million years would they ever do such a thing and they thought the boys knew them better than that. They'd never pull such a prank, it was too cruel even for them to pull off. Not to mention that their Boggart forms were spot on to their worst form. It really did piss them off that somehow, in some way, the boys thought they would ever pull such a prank.

"Well you two are acting awfully happy like you didn't just get choked by a Boggart who looked like two completely drowned versions of yourselves. What's going on then?" George asked the others, looking at them worriedly and confused as they did so. Ruby sighed, looking over to Emerald who nodded before she looked back over to George with a sigh. It wasn't anything bad, but the two really weren't looking forward to explaining this to the two of them.

"We were just trying to comfort you guys. We didn't want you two to worry about us since we're completely fine. We got looked at by Madam Pompfrey and we're perfectly fine. She said it was just a bit of PTSD and it was fixed no problem." Ruby hummed out, earning an even more concerned look from the two boys. They had heard of PTSD before, it was something a lot of the adults had from the war that took place prior to Harry being born. It made the two worry about the girls as they knew it was related to trauma, but the girls had never told them such a thing that would cause them such pain. This made the four exchange a worried look before they all let out a unified sigh, Emerald waving her hands dismissively as she did so. She looked at the others with tired eyes, knowing they couldn't keep this secret forever and the boys would have to find out eventually. They hated having to tell him like this, under these circumstances, but there was no other way to avoid it and the two girls knew that. At this point there was no hiding it from the boys and they knew that, so they just chose to come forward about it now. They had hidden it long enough, there was no point in hiding it any longer.

"There was an incident when we were younger, when we were about eight or so, that left us a little more than terrified of the water and even drowning." Ruby started to explain, earning the full attention of Fred and George with fear in their eyes. Emerald played with her as they sat there, taking her hair from up in a high braided ponytail to down as she did so while listening to Ruby begin to tell their story of their trauma. It wasn't something as scary as other girls, but it was still their trauma and they never imagined telling the boys about this day. They thought they could keep it from them, but it hadn't worked and they knew that now. They just hoped the boys wouldn't laugh at them for it.

"We went to the beach with our families for our family holiday, but we decided to sneak out to see the beach early. We didn't know a storm was rolling in last night and by the time we found out, we were pulled out by the riptides." Ruby explained, beginning to tear up as she began to relive the horror they went through. Emerald wanted to jump from her bed, but the look the nurse gave her earlier told her to stay in these beds as much as they could. This earned a small hug from the twins, both boys gently hugging the girls they were set next to with a small sigh. They looked at each other worriedly, recognizing that the two girls were in their own personal hells when it came to water now. They would keep this in mind, but they didn't know just how bad it truly was, though they would be finding out as Emerald cleared her throat with a small cough as she did so.

"We were pulled under so many times that it was so hard for us to know when we were under or not. It's when, much to our luck, we discovered our real magic then. We were somehow able to, in the span of what felt like hours, managed to call a phoenix and a thunderbird to our locations to bring us back to shore. They weren't ones from our family farmers, so that's how we knew it was some sort of magical connection we have with the creatures that we managed to get out." Emerald explained, clearing her throat as best as she could to try and stop the tears from pricking at her eyes as she did. She was doing everything she could to try and hide them, to try and keep them from rolling down her cheeks. It wasn't working though and the boys could tell that this story was hurting them to talk about. Fred gently rubbed Emerald's shoulder, watching as the other cleared her throat once more to continue speaking as she let Ruby recover more from telling this story. George did the same thing, gently rubbing Ruby's shoulder as he held her close to him. He knew this pain, their mother had gone through it so much after they lost their uncles and it hurt them to see her like this.

"They brought us to the shore after what felt like hours at being lost to the waves, but we made it back unscathed for the most part. Thanks to that time at sea though, we are petrified of the sea and just large bodies of water in general. We're scared of drowning and when the Boggart took that form I…I…" Emerald bit her lip, trying to stop the tears again yet the tears just wouldn't stop coming. They started to pool in her eyes, slowly yet firmly rushing past her eyes and down her cheeks. She was clearly mad at herself and it showed as she hid her mouth behind her hand, trying to keep herself from sobbing at the memories as she did so. She gently squeezed Ruby's hand, earning a soft squeeze back from her cousin as she did so. Fred gently squeezed her shoulder, knowing the other was getting more upset with herself with every passing second.

"Hey…Hey it's okay Emerald. There's nothing for you to be mad about." Fred murmured out to her, earning a nod from the other two who agreed with him. This earned a scoff from Emerald though who shook her head, rolling her eyes in anger as she shook her head in disagreement with them.

"N-No. No it's not. I froze. I never freeze up like that. Not since that day. Not since that night on the beach." She murmured out, looking completely angry with herself and Ruby nodded, confirming to the other's that this was true. Ruby hung her head in shame, joining Emerald in her self-deprecating behavior despite what the boys might think.

"Same here. I've never frozen up like that and I shouldn't have. Not with Emerald's life on the line. That won't fly if we join the fight against you know who if he ever comes back or a real emergency comes up and she's in danger." Ruby murmured out with fear in her eyes, biting her lip as she remembered the day with shame in her eyes. This earned concerned looks from the twins who looked at them in awe, shaking their head as they looked down at the girls beside them. They both hugged the girls tight, looking down at them with worried eyes as they did so.

"Hey, listen bloody well you two, it's okay to be scared. It's perfectly fine to have something you're scared of." Fred murmured out, looking between the two of them with worried eyes as the girls did their best to hold back their sobs. George nodded in agreement to his brother's statement, gently squeezing Ruby's shoulder as he hugged her tight with a small frown on his lips.

"Bravery is looking fear in the eye and facing it head on, even if you are still scared. You guys faced that Boggart today head on, knowing full well that the two of you would see yourselves in such a dead and bloated state. Even if you froze up seeing it, you still faced it head on anyway. Not to mention you both tried to save each other from the Boggart and nearly succeeded in doing so. If you both hadn't been being choked out, I'm sure you would've done just fine." George murmured out with a small sigh, earning a small look of surprise from Ruby and Emerald. Fred only decided to build up on what he heard his brother say, squeezing the green eyed girl's shoulder to make sure he got her attention.

"And before you even try to say that this is stupid, that you're fear isn't as big or something to truly be about like ours, it's not. You guys went through something truly and most certainly terrifying that we could never imagine going through and coming out of completely fine. Your fears are perfectly valid, no matter what you two might think. It's terrifying to be caught at sea and nearly drown, so no matter what you try to say it won't change our minds." Fred said, doing so in a serious manner till the end of his little speech. It was then he lightened up, earning a chuckle from the other three as they all smiled. It made their cheeks sore, but it certainly warmed their hearts and made them all feel much happier. The boys were much happier seeing the girls like this, watching the girls smile making their hearts fill with joy. They honestly didn't know what to say to the girls now, just watching them smile as they warmed up with a smile on their lips. That's when an idea struck the boys, one that they thought might help the girls feel better. Fred smirked at George and George smirked back, knowing they were on the same wavelength as they looked to each other then back to the girls.

"Hey…There's this really shallow pond-like space in the forbidden forest. Maybe when it gets a bit warmer you girls can come with us and take a dip. Take a step toward helping you conquer this fear of yours. If you want to, that is. We would obviously never force you two to do such a thing." George hummed, earning curious looks from the two girls who took a moment to think it over. It didn't sound like a bad idea, in fact it sounded like a really good idea. It also felt good to know that the boys weren't mad at them and didn't view them as a joke. Looking at each other with a small smile, the girls nodded in agreement as they looked at the boys once more with a smile.

"That sounds like a perfect plan. You two are always so smart." Emerald hummed, earning a playful chuckle from Fred and George who nodded in agreement.

"Well, we're always the brains of this operation." Fred chuckled out, earning a slight slugging from Emerald right in his open shoulder who laughed alongside the boys as they did so with a hum.

"No, we're the brains of this outfit. You two are the faces and sellers of this operation. Get it right boys." Ruby chuckled out, earning a soft laugh from the four of them all.